


Lev Shapiro (Frances Ha) {art}

by altocello



Series: Adam Driver Character Portraits [17]
Category: Frances Ha (2012)
Genre: Adam Driver being explicit just by existing, Digital Painting, Fanart, Gen, Portraits, ear porn, puppy dog eyes, that mouth has to be illegal in at least one bible belt state
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:13:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 0
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27009406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/altocello/pseuds/altocello
Summary: A young Adam as Lev, clean-shaven, hat emphasizing the curve of his ear, eyes round, brows and mouth quirked, leaning forward in entreaty as he tries his best to charm the oblivious Frances.
Series: Adam Driver Character Portraits [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748746
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	Lev Shapiro (Frances Ha) {art}

**Author's Note:**

> Frances may be oblivious, but he charmed the socks right off of me. 
> 
> There's a lovely, almost conversational, tone in this movie, like the audience is a part of what's going on, but without breaking the 4th wall. It's warm, and inviting, and human in a lot of really wonderful ways. Shot on actual film, using the kind of camera that you'd find in the hands of a student film-maker, the soft, perpetually slightly out of focus look is the result of the lenses they used, which kept the camera small enough to use in an unobtrusive way in smaller spaces, like house parties, or an apartment in Chinatown, or a small restaurant.
> 
> Lev, a trust fund arty type, could so easily have been an unsympathetic character. I was so glad that he wasn't. Adam's gentle, goofy, endearing performance really sold me on the fact that Lev is truly sweet for Frances. His bemused patience during the latter part of their date, when Frances is fumbling to pick up the tab, might have veered into condescension, but Adam manages to convey that Lev is giving her room to be independent without making it feel patronizing. I don't know that I could ever get tired of watching him weave his way in and out of that bathroom for the band-aids; his graceful awkward physicality is on glorious unapologetic full display, all angles and elbows, ears, nose, wide cheekbones and narrow chin highlighted by that hat, with gentle large hands, smiles, and softness around his eyes. 
> 
> And can I say that it was just SO NICE to see a male character immediately stop when the female character, without any words at all, made it abundantly clear that his romantic intentions were not welcome? You can see that he doesn't understand, and is wondering how on earth he read all of her signals so wrong, but he jerks his hands back and makes it clear he won't touch her again if she doesn't want it. She doesn't explain, I'm not sure she could, she's just as confused as he is by her knee-jerk reaction, and he doesn't press. 
> 
> I feel like his subsequent series of implied one night stands is less about him being a womanizer and more about him attempting to get her attention. Well, ok, so it's a bit about him being a womanizer, but mostly I think he's hoping that Frances will get jealous and do something. She never does, of course, being hopelessly in love with her best friend, and in complete denial of that fact. The funniest scene for me is when she's trying to get that same friend, who is happily dating a different man, to go out with Lev, who LITERALLY walks between them half naked on his way to the shower and says OUT LOUD that he's trying to get Frances' attention. I'll give him credit, he never violates Frances' boundaries, but he also never gives up, waiting quietly in the wings for her to figure it out; at the end of the movie he's still there, supportive of her fledgling roles as teacher and choreographer, still giving her the puppy dog eyes from the sidelines.
> 
> About 6 hours of drawing time. Given the soft edges in the reference I figured it wouldn't take me too long to put this together but nope! It turns out that a less than perfectly focused camera, plus film grain, plus low lighting makes for me working VERY hard to discern the planes of his face accurately. It does make it quicker to do his moles though, b/c a lot of the littler ones are lost in the softness of it all. 

[ ](http://inkwellfiction.com/cello/portraits/lev-shapiro.jpg)

[](http://inkwellfiction.com/cello/portraits/lev-shapiro-eyes.jpg) [](http://inkwellfiction.com/cello/portraits/lev-shapiro-mouth.jpg)

**Author's Note:**

> [Say Hi on Twitter!](https://twitter.com/altocello)   
>  [You can also find me and my art on Tumblr.](https://artocello.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Comments and kudos are always sincerely appreciated!


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